Monday 20 July 2009

Avanza: DIY Oil Change

Its 110k km..

Tools:
1. Oil filter wrench.
2. size 14 wrench.
3. waste oil container.
4. Old news paper.
5. Tissue or toilet roll.

Parts:
1. Oil filter.
2. Engine oil.



~ No need to jack up the car.
~ Size 14 wrench need to be reasonably long to make the open of drain bolt easier. Quite tight.
~ Warm up engine or take a short breakfast drive, let the engine cool down a little so the oil release is not boiling hot.
~ Lay the old news paper on the floor so any spillage will not dirty the floor.
~ Loosen the size 14 drain bolt.
~ Place the waste oil container below the drain bolt.
~ Open drain bolt. I use hand to open. The oil when come in contact with hand, its hot. But not boiling la.
~ Leave it drain until u are satisfied. I left it for about an hour.. :p
~ Now u can loosen (not open) oil filter while waiting for the oil to drip. Just loosen it will do. Open it now will spill oil to the floor. Wait!
~ Clean up the drain bolt and the outlet on the oil sump. Screw the bolt back in. No need very tight, just a slight torque using the size 14 wrench because you may damage the little bolt.
~ Drag the waste container until its directly under the oil filter.
~ Now open the oil filter with the oil filter wrench.
~ The oil filter is directly in the exhaust manifold, so its a little cramp in there. My little plastic oil filter opener get a little handful because get caught by the exhaust manifold. DON'T DO THIS WHEN ENGINE IS VERY HOT BECAUSE EXHAUST MANIFOLD CAN BURN YOUR HAND.
~ Once open the open filter, use toilet paper or tissue to clean the contact area and this is what it looks like:



~ Apply some fresh engine oil over the filter oil seal to wet it so it seats better.
~ Can actually hand tight the oil filter.. ;D
~ Pour in fresh oil, and measure using the dipstick. DON'T POUR IN THE WHOLE BOTTLE, WE DON'T THAT MUCH.
~ Start the engine, visually inspect for leakage.
~ If no leakage, take it for a short drive, then check again.
~ Stop the engine and check oil level again. Top up until it reached the MAX mark on the dip stick.
~ Check on leakages again the next morning and so forth (subsequent days to come) until you are comfortable.

DONE!

This is the oil filter. I bought it from SC, very cheap only, don't risk getting from outside spare part shop just to save few Ringgit. Very different internal design.

Saturday 4 July 2009

BMW E90 320i DIY Washing Air Filter "Sleeve"

I suspect nothing was done to my air filter during my 1st BSRI service last week at the SC. At 24k km I figured the OEM air filter is pretty clogged up because if its K&N, it would be pretty dirty at 20k km. Since our air filter element is covered/protected by a synthetic wool sleeve, it's washing time! :D

Refer here for instruction to open the AF box:
http://upgr8s.blogspot.com/2008/03/bmw-e90-diy-opening-air-filter-box.html

"Prying" open the air filter box after removing the several T-20 screws:


Separated the sleeve from the element:


Dip the sleeve into a bucket of water premix with dish cleaning detergent:


Moving the sleeve in and out of the soap water repeatedly for several minutes and this is what u get:

After cleaning, it dries pretty fast because the synthetic wool repels water:


Slot it back to the filter element and kao tim!


Now, expecting my all time FC meter to drop from 11.5L/100km to below 11 region.. :p :D

A new discovery while doing this DIY:

I got this Air Filter buffer box removed by unscrewing T-15 screws marked with the red cross in the photo.


Flipping it over I noticed the interesting rips and air tunnel EXCEPT the huge green question mark:


Check out the inlet in this close up:



When in position, pay attention to the right inlet:



You see what I see? :eek: